What is the opnion of you folks of this incident?

By ANGELA GALLOWAY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT

OLYMPIA -- He prayed for the politicians, the state's prosperity and peace for all ethnicities and religions.

But when a Muslim cleric offered the opening prayer before the state House of Representatives yesterday, at least two lawmakers stepped off the chamber floor.

"It's an issue of patriotism," Rep. Lois McMahan, a conservative Republican from Gig Harbor, said of her decision to stand in the back of the room.

"The Islamic religion is so . . . part and parcel with the attack on America. I just didn't want to be there, be a part of that," she said. "Even though the mainstream Islamic religion doesn't profess to hate America, nonetheless it spawns the groups that hate America."

Rep. Cary Condotta, a Republican from East Wenatchee, also left the floor. He said the timing was not a coincidence, but he declined to comment further on why he left, except to say he was talking to another lawmaker and "let's just say I wasn't particularly interested."

A prayer is given at the beginning of each Senate and House session, and attendance is hit or miss, particularly on Mondays.

The interfaith organization Associated Ministries of Thurston County schedules the daily chaplain, said Cynthia Zehnder, clerk of the 98-member chamber. They have selected clerics representing a broad range of faiths, she said.

Imam Mohamad Joban, of the Islamic Center of Olympia, presented yesterday's brief opening prayer.

In part, he said: "We open this session of House of Representatives in the name of Allah the one God Abraham, God of Moses, God of Jesus, and God of Mohammed, peace be upon them all. . . . We ask Allah or God to bless the state of Washington so it may continue to prosper and become a symbol of peace and tranquility for people of all ethnic and religious backgrounds. We pray that Allah may guide this House in making good decisions for the people of Washington.

"At this time, we also pray that America may succeed in the war against terrorism. We pray to God that the war may end with world peace and tranquility."

Joban said the walkout was not hurtful, but ignorant.

"They're unable to distinguish between Islam as religion and way of life, and bad Muslims," said Joban, who has also given the opening prayer to the Senate. "They are easily able to distinguish between Christianity and bad Christians.

"They need to understand that like (President) Bush said . . . Islam is a peaceful religion."

Kathy Erlandson, director of Associated Ministries of Thurston County, found the small walkout disappointing, but not surprising.

"It makes me embarrassed to know that some of our legislators can't even treat someone with that common respect," she said. "He's an American citizen and he's praying for their work, then how can it be an act of patriotism to walk away?"

McMahan said she does not oppose having a Muslim cleric deliver the prayer.

Her departure was not a protest, but a personal decision not to participate because "the religion is the focal point of the hate-America sentiment in the world."

"My god is not Mohammed," McMahan added.

Joban said that if he were invited to give the opening prayer, he would do it again.

"Even if half of them leave it's OK for me," Joban said. "As a Muslim we have to respect what people believe and . . . we have to forgive something because of ignorance.

"The Holy Quran says that (one should) always respond to bad action with good and those who used to be enemies become friends."

It really bothers me that many in the U.S. assume that all prayers have to be Christian. The orginazation that I work with, always start board meetings with a Christian prayer. The problem is, I am not a Christian and these prayers make me very uncomfortable. However, I know that the majority in those meetings are Christian and I respect their religion (even though I feel that they are not respecting mine). I think those senators did not respect that person's religion. That is part of the reason why I don't think that meetings-especially in Congress, should be started with a prayer because not everyone is of the same religion. There is such a thing as seperation of Church and State and when it is not seperated, people get offended.



Cat

My opnion-
The state house representatives walking out of a blessing by any cleric of any religion is wrong and an idiodic political mistake.  There is a differnet cleric that gives the blessing each week the house is in session, basically all established religions have participated in this blessing, there was nothing odd or controversial in this particular session.
A local talk radio host (very conservative, ran in the last Governer's election and was the last Republican standing) read the blessing over the air, it was very pleasant and addressed the blessing as one from Allah and the Christian God throughout his presentation.  
One point that angers me greatly was he ended the blessing with a call and hope for the ending of terrorist attacks, it was not long ago that a common concern was a lack of the Muslim community speaking out against terror. How can we complain it's not being stated when we refuse to listen?

Here is the result from an informal poll that the local paper held.

14.8%
Yes, I would have walked too

72.7%
No, they were wrong in doing so

6.4%
My feeling is somewhere in between

1.0%
Don't know

5.0%
Don't care

Total Votes: 3089

I agree with Catwoman that there should not be a prayer at the beginning of any meeting, unless it is a religious-based organization.  These people were just rude in walking out.  They are supposed to be representing their communities and I would be willing to bet there is at least 1 Muslim in their representative communities.  Even if they're not interested as the 1 stated, it is common courtesy to remain while someone is speaking, whether they are giving a political speech or a prayer.  I would imagine they knew beforehand who the prayer was to be given by.  If they were that offended by it, they should have just shown up late and skipped the entire thing.

I would hope that others would respect my religion (not follow it themselves, but respect my choice), and I would not be so disrespectful of someone else. I am only sorry to see some  are  assuming these two people are Christian.....they did not say that was their reason for leaving. One said it was because it wouldn't be "patriotic" to listen to the prayer and the other refused to disclose except to say they "weren't interested" in the prayer. Please don't assume that all Christians are ignorant and cut from the same cloth. I am a Christian and I would not have done this. Hopefully their constituents will express their displeasure at the ignorance displayed. :(

These lawmakers could be committing political suicide because I'm fairly certain a percentage of their constituents are Muslims.

In politics, every vote counts.

In politics, ignorance is not bliss.

Plus...

These two men show no respect for a fellow man's choice and freedom of religion.

Here is the latest, I think they realised their mistake.  What also annoyed me is Lois Mckahan is from and represents my home town, Gig Harbor, I grew up there and my mother and grandmother still live there.  My family has been there for over 100 years and was one of the earlyiest settlers there.  Gig Harbor is one of the most beautiful settings in the region and I certainly don't want anyone to think she represents my family or other good people from there.


Rep. Lois McMahan will apologize on the state House floor today for comments she made about her decision to sit out a prayer delivered Monday by a Muslim cleric that opened the session, legislative staff members said.

McMahan, a Republican from Gig Harbor, did not mean to offend anyone when she explained to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that she made a personal decision for "patriotic" and other reasons to remain off the floor during the prayer.

A national Muslim group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, criticized McMahan and East Wenatchee Rep. Cary Condotta for their lack of respect during the prayer, and the state Republican Party chairman condemned their actions.